Loose ends: When Henley met Gordie

As reported a week ago, Val-d'Or forward Cedrick Henleylogged a Gordie Howe hat trick to lead the Foreurs to a Saturday night win over Lewiston. While it would be nice to post more scoring highlights, here's to the continued appeasement of the savage masses who enjoy a good tussle by showing how the 6'5 Henley completed the task.

Dave - definitely good to see him have that tendency. CH has a ways to go in terms of skill development, but the mental approach is sharper. He's already putting uyp better numbers in the hits column. Now it's the consistency issue - will he regularly go to the net and impose his will? Will he regularly show a more aggressive edge? I suspect the hard working offense will come gradually (more tap in goals and unofficial assists via screens in the meantime), while he'll continue to be selective when dropping the mitts. Similar to when Luke Adam dropped the gloves for the first time in his career when with Montreal - "not really part of my game but sometimes it has to be done."

A path to successful pro hockey for a guy that size could very well be as a timely fighter with some skills. Granted, there is also something to be said for being naturally aggressive, not something it seems like Henley has been to this point.

During early training camp scrimmages, I was pleased with how he clicked on LW with Niedermayer and Grier -- while it's easy to fit in with two wiley vets, he showed me a little glimpse of something unexpected in terms of defense. Add a commitment to black-and-blue hockey, even if it's just effective and consistent finishing checks, he could put himself into their depth plans at least in terms of the AHL.

the sheer size with his long upper body and reach and the potential execution of all of those "other things" like blocking shots, good assignments away from the puck, etc. is precisely why they drafted him. Footwork is paramount. It's not so far off to think he gets inked as a depth forward in two years. While currently a project, we definitely can't say he'll be a 'project' two Junes from now given the improvement he's shown over last season.

Cedrick is not a scrapper, but a team-at-all-cost type of guy, hense the fight. He's a hard, but fair, hitter. His trip to Buffalo was a big boost for him and it showed immediately in Val d'Or. As oppose to last two years, the coach has finally given him decent partners to work with. He's also on PK and PP logging in good icetime. Funny how a draft can influence a junior coach.He now needs to show consistency as the memories of a pro camp dissipates. His attitude, size, and talent suggests he could become a Franzen. I remind you all that Franzen was drafted at age 25, 97th overall, and only blossomed at 28. Our Quebec moose here is 18.

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Kris Baker was raised in a hockey rink. When you were watching Star Wars, he was watching Peter Puck. Bakes' favorite food is chicken soup from the vending machine, and he'd register a Zamboni with the DMV if allowed.